Several centuries ago, in an age defined by the second fairy war, deep in the forests of the Nanshi, and on the streets of Elysia, one could hear stories, rumors, and tall tales of the Nanshi/Romini named Jwolaroth Ruk. The rumors and stories surrounding this name can be confusing at times. Some referred to him as “Ruk,” “Rook,” “J.R.,” “Jwol,” “Jwola,” “Joe” and so on. Some stories claim that he is really an ancient coal wyrm in disguise. This myth was perpetuated by his frequent use of both the adult and hatchling version of that species. Others are adamant that Jwola is its true name, the creature having been a medusa that polymorphed herself into other forms. Most agree that it was not a changeling, but few can back up that claim historically.

In any event, I will tell you the most likely truth behind this… entity... let’s call it “Jwol.” Jwol was born to a Romini woman in the forests of T’Nanshi. His father, an elf, was as free spirited as any. The elf father left Avlis to explore the planes before his mother knew she was pregnant. Jwol’s mother did not want to raise this child on her own, nor face the shame an unwed mother would receive in romini society. Luckily, a very old fairy (whose name cannot be found in any archives) volunteered to adopt the child. When the fairy asked the Romini woman the child’s name, the woman chose something on the spot. She remembered a time when her tribe was under attack, and a passing dragon came to their rescue. Taking part of the dragon’s name, and part of the elf father’s name, she named the child “Jwolaroth Ruk.”

(Historian’s note: It is apparently pronounced as one word “Jwolaroth’ruk” with ruk pronounced as rook. It does sound vaguely draconic, but some syllables are not as expected. The mother likely did not remember the pronunciation correctly. )

The fairy was incredibly protective of her foster child. She never let him stray for long, and never did tell him about his parents. It is possible she convinced herself that the child was somehow hers. In any case, she instilled a strong sense of right and wrong in the child from an early age. Many thought her paranoid, but she did have a reason for being so. Jwolaroth’s father was a transmuter mage who used his shapes for purely selfish reasons. The fairy somehow knew this, and knew that Jwolaroth would be drawn to shapechanging, one way or another. She left him with a riddle that would lead him down the path of druidic shifting, a way of channeling the family’s obsession through religion instead of arcane magic.

(Historian’s note: The father may have actually fled to the planes to avoid impending fines and imprisonment. He may not have been an explorer at all.)

It worked. After communing with nature, Tupaia Dagroth called Jwol to her. She put him to a task which involved single-handedly preventing Elysia’s water supply from being poisoned. After completing the mission, she aided him in stepping onto the shifter’s path.

Jwol took to shifting like a wolf to the hunt. In his early days as an adventurer, the creature Jwol joined a group called Taleweavers. They traveled back and forth to the neighboring world of Tairis’nadur tracking down criminals, freeing kobold slaves, and putting an end to a magical weapons trade. According to his personal journals, he had more than a passing interest in someone named “Shira” there, someone he could never find after their first two encounters. Later, he would join such organizations as E.D.F., E.A.V., Le’Megen’t’Elysia, Shemathen’le’yeritath, and the Order of O’ma. For the Shemathen, he would serve on their guiding council, one of the Circle of Seven for a span of decades. For the Order of O’ma, he would have the role of their religious advisor, due to extensive knowledge of O’ma’s teachings.

During the fairy war, various shaheesk/titanian raiding camps beset Elysia. Many of these camps kidnapped families of fey, performed sterilization experiments on them, and sold the leftovers as slaves. Jwol scouted and assaulted the various slaving/raiding camps with the rest of E.A.V. until the camps were no more. For this, he received special honors from Vanoviel. In the second phase of the war, Jwol did not work with E.A.V. Instead, he worked in secret with healers and druids, including the Shemathen. His divine visions were essential in uncovering one of several ancient artifacts. These helped end the fairy war by empowering the god Skern, an act that many druids and healers had a hand in, not to mention several master craftsmen. Being connected to the EAV allowed him to convince Elysia’s forces to slow their advances. Doing so drew out the conflict, and let the enemy think they had the upper hand. This gave the druids the time they needed to prepare the artifacts and perform the ritual. When the titanians beset Elysia for the last time, all seelie members left the battlefield without fighting, for Titania had called off the holy war at the behest of Skern. Their numbers cut in half, the unseelie’s assault ultimately failed.

The peace accord between Drotid and Elysia/T’Nanshi/Grantir also bears Jwol’s signature. To pay T’Nanshi back for their aid in the fairy war, he worked with the EAV and aided the Nanshi military on a number of missions. In the end, he could think of no way to win this war. Instead of giving up, he shapeshifted into an illithid to think on a genius level. He devised the chasm operation, which he later captained. This ploy created a fifty mile wide chasm and trapped a large portion of M’Chek’s army with no supplies and no hope of reinforcements. It was one of many factors that led to the ceasefire, which occurred mere days later. Because of this strategy, most of the ten thousand O’ma champions that marched onto the southern battlefield survived. It is also possible that this gave T’Nanshi an important bargaining chip during the ceasefire debates. It is said that the chasm operation was the first time Jwol used his favored ancient coal wyrm body, much to the shock of M’Chekian soldiers. As for how the chasm was created… I cannot find that information in any archives. It is almost as if someone… did not want it to be found.

(Historian’s note: Most Avlis universities now consider turning into an illithid to study or take tests cheating. In the words of my headmaster, illthid-shifting “…is entirely unfair to the other students- and really creeps me out.”)

After the war, Jwol took to restoration projects. He had a hand in restoring the fairy gardens and C’lareth monastery. He was also active in Visimontium from time to time, usually for matters involving Geritri forest. Believe it or not, the Nanshi supporter also worked tirelessly for many months to restore the natural balance in M’Chek, sacrificing both time and personal resources. This act (a cooperation between many groups such as Shemathen, ANRA, and Council of Balance), greatly aided both humans and wildlife there.

(Historian’s note: This fact has been disputed by certain anti-druid political parties in M’Chek, but their disputes have no backing in historic records.)

There are too many stories involving Jwol to recount them all, but this historian will try. It is said he had a hand in curing a plague, taking a trip into Elysium while still living to collect an angel’s tear. It is said that he destroyed the thousands-year-old still-beating heart of a necromancer with dragon’s fire. It is said he helped free Geritri’s treants from madness. Stories claim that he has slain liches and destroyed their phylacteries, closed portals of invading extra-planar armies, helped seal planar rifts, accidentally open at least one, traveled to half a dozen planes, helped save Nanshi Urbaz, helped subdue the Pale One and trap him back beneath Zelvan Dur, fought off Evrakian hags who invaded Fourtree, performed tasks for the dragon Raalok, tracked down mass murderers, mastered herbalism, defended Elysia and T’Nanshi from sereg, bandits, werewolves, undead, elementals, beetles of unusual size, dream witches, and so on.

(Historian’s note: Some claim that Jwolaroth Ruk was not a shifter at all. Rather, some say he was many animals and monsters that went by the same name, thereby allowing him to do so many things. However, one needs only look at the timing of events to realize they could all have been performed by the same person.)

I can find little on what he did in his later adventuring years, due to a fire in the records archive that contained that information (I told my peer a fire mephit was a poor choice of familiar). I have found tidbits suggesting that Jwolaroth Ruk continued to perform small adventurous feats, fighting evil forces, working on nature projects, serving in the OoO, Le’Megen, and Shemathen’le’yeritath. It is also clear that he continued to study shapeshifting, the planes, nature, and alchemy. I have found some information hinting that he may have eventually reproduced. Most likely, he waited until later in life, after retirement. Some historians hypothesized that he may have had monstrous or animal offspring, but I put little stock in such wild speculation. As for Jwol’s final fate, I am shamed to admit I do not know it. Perhaps a later student or archaeologist will amend this summary, if the truth is ever uncovered. This summary only scratches the surface, after all.

I leave you with some of Jwol’s sayings:

“All Life is One.” “The soul has no form.” “O’ma’s light glow with you.” “The notion that good cannot exist without evil is mere wordplay. The word would not exist, but the reality would.” “All things are connected. Understand this, and species becomes… transitory.” “Shaheesk taste like shrimp.”